Author: SalesforceGrit

When I meet people, they assume that I am an outgoing social butterfly. A peppy cheerleader who loves rallying the troops. While I do love building people up and cheering for the underdog, the anxiety that I feel when faced with…. well, people, is sometimes crippling. It is really bizarre. I find that I have one foot in the “OH MY STARS, I can’t believe I get to hangout with my Salesforce Ohana” pool and the other foot in the “Must. Hide. Alone” pool.

One of my most treasured Ohana memories was the night of the Dreamfest 2016. Instead of going to the concert, I had dinner with a small group of incredible souls. There was something magical about that night that words can’t explain. With the exception of the girl who invited me, everyone else was a stranger, but somehow quickly felt like friends.

That being said, at Destination Success 2017, I couldn’t bring myself to go to one dinner with the “group”. It wasn’t even strangers. I’d texted and chatted in the community, but when it was time to walk out of my hotel room and to the restaurant which wasn’t even off property, I couldn’t. Three Dreamforces, countless SF training’s, two Destination Successes, and the list goes on. I get myself there and then spiral in my head.

This anxiety isn’t just in the Salesforce Community. I struggle with crowds. I struggle with small groups. I struggle going to birthday parties, church events, school functions. Oddly, I don’t struggle as much with activities that I can blend in. Recently, I went to see Cinderella and didn’t have an ounce of anxiety. I think that I deal with two different anxieties. Social, which I don’t know will ever go away, and fear. Maybe I’ll write about the fear one another time.

Last year, I registered and paid for a Dreamforce breakfast and didn’t go. It’s like I spend all this time looking forward to meeting these people that I respect, love, and look up to. I get excited that I’ll finally get to know someone IRL that I’ve befriended in the community, or on social media and then, I freeze. I panic and I bail. The crazy thing is that regardless of how many times I’ve bailed, the Ohana still includes me. I’m still wanted. I’m still invited. Y’all, I want to face my giants.

I have hosted two meetings with the Chattanooga WIT User Group and didn’t feel anxiety with either one. I am actually looking forward to our meeting next week. This is HUGE. I feel like the relationship with my anxiety is transforming. Instead of giving it monster power that sends me hiding, I’m going to try to understand it. To face it. To love it. I have to believe that even it has a purpose in my life.

TrailheaDX and my beloved Destination Success / boot camp is in a few weeks. Who wants to sit with me at lunch, or meet for dinner? OK, that made my palms tingle. Maybe I’m taking the easy way here since it will be a week of intense learning and studying, but I am going to try to engage with my people more than I retreat to my room.

My sweet friend, Jules, gifted me with a perpetual inspiration calendar over 10 years ago. The thought for June 2 is by Gloria Gaither and reads, “Memories, important yesterdays, were once todays. Treasure and notice today.” and it got me thinking. “Todays” can be hard, y’all. Life can be hard. While my world isn’t perfect, it is pretty damn close.

I have the best family and friends out there. Seriously, my husband is a smart, kind, hilarious, logical, and loves me as is. To him, I’m perfection. Don’t even get me started on my sweet Luke… everyday, I get to see this 15 year old boy man love the world like Jesus does and I find myself blown away that I was chosen to be his momma.

I am a Salesforce Admin which makes me a part of the maddest tribe known to man. I get to stand with, support, and be supported by a wizard, theGifSquad, Trailhead, AwesomeAdmins, OHANA. I mean, rarely is there a day, Sunday – Saturday, that I don’t have some sort of interaction with my Ohana. Can you say. “DREAM JOB”?

So, yeah – my world is pretty great, but…. it can still be hard.

This week, I’ve felt overwhelmed, guilty, sad, hurt, motivated, blocked, less than, wanted, ignored, funny, smart, frustrated, loved, burdened, hopeful, scared, psychotic, worried, joyful, and the list truly goes on and on. When you love big, when you think big, when you live big, you freaking feel big and my goal is to do a better job at appreciating that.

If you have found yourself in the middle of a blessed life, but still finding that life can be tough, I hope that it helps to know that you aren’t alone. This girl is cheering in your corner and certain that you’re kicking butt.

Let me start off by saying that I’ve almost blogged three times, but stopped because it had nothing to do with Salesforce. Monday, I intended to write about Southeast Dreamin’ because it was rad, but somewhere between then and now, I ran across those pretty red letters that read “New!” in my set up menu next to something called Optimizer. Okay, I’ll play. It was as easy as 1, 2, 3!

Click on “Optimizer”

Click on “Launch”

Get it by clicking on “Got It”

Wait for the report to be emailed to you. Mine took a couple of minutes.

My report when through the following:

Fields

Field Limits

Field Usage

Apex Code

Apex Triggers

Custom Layouts for Objects

Page Layouts

Record Types

Validation Rules

Active Validation Rules

Inactive Validation Rules

Sharing Rules

Workflow Rules

User Permissions

Profiles & Permissions Sets

Unassigned Custom Profiles

Unassigned Permission Sets

Custom Profiles with a Low Number of Users

Permission Sets with a Low Number of Users

The thing that I love about the report is how organized it is. The report starts with the “Report Contents” which is the bullet point list above. Each category included a direct link to that part of the report.

Any trouble points were easily identified by . As I moved down to the meat of the report, I was impressed with the awesome visual aides provided. I’m easy, so give me a green check mark and I feel like the belle of the ball.

Each topic gave that quick visual to show that you were a rock star, or that you had room for improvement. The topic also included a link to the specific data in the Appendix which is where you get the minutiae. I love the minutiae.

For areas that didn’t earn a green check mark, Salesforce provides a “What Should You Do?” section. It gives very specific suggestions as well as the reasoning behind the suggestions.

You want to know what else is included besides just the Appendix link? Links to SOOOOOO many other places outside of the report to answer any questions that you might have on the topic.

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All in all, most of the red flags were already on my radar and my ongoing improvement list, so it was a great sanity check. There were several items brought to my attention that I can take immediate action on. Who doesn’t love a quick win?

No, Salesforce Optimizer, Thank YOU. Family, if you haven’t already, I suggest you stop what you are doing and let the Optimizer give you a check up. I am on the way to my Sandbox because that is where I always make changes to make sure something small doesn’t make a big mess. I’m also going to the sandbox because I’m on the path to Better.

Have you already Optimized? If so, what was your experience? If not, are you going to?

Holy smoke, y’all. It is the week of….ME. I posted my first blog on Friday and on Saturday, I joked about not ever sharing it on social media. On Sunday, I received a message from the one and only @SalesforceAmy telling me that I’d been picked as the next feature on #GifSquad #Weekof 🙂 It was like my own personal burning bush from God.

If you haven’t already heard of the Gif Squad, you need to stop reading this and check them out. The squad is made up of 11 Salesforce fanatics. What started out as fundraising for the I Am Angel Foundation turned into a mission to make the #Ohana a welcoming, fun, and gif-filled place! If you are new to Gifs, please proceed with caution because

and they are addicting! Seriously, why are you still reading? Go learn about the founding members of the squad! Misty Jones of the Flyin’ Solo group, invited me to dinner at DF16.

Without knowing about the Gif Squad for Good movement, I got to know three of the squad members. I attended the DF 16 session of another member where I stalked…admired another from afar. I even had the kahunas to introduce myself to another. You see, I’m still getting comfortable with the reality that my Salesforce heroes truly welcome me as #Ohana.

If you are new to the Salesforce #Ohana, don’t be timid like me. Don’t admire your heroes from afar. Go up and introduce yourself. There are no expectations, or requirements here. Unless you’re meeting Steve Mo, in which case you should have a beer. Either because you owe him one, or because you will. Eventually we all do.

I’d like to thank the Gif Squad for choosing to shine light on me this week. You guys have encouraged me in big and small ways. I can’t repay you, but I can pay it forward.

On the first day of the first Destination Success (2016), which happens to be the birthday of Salesforce, I passed the Administrator exam. It was my second attempt.

My first attempt at passing the Advanced Administrator exam was near the end of DST16. I failed, but I didn’t feel bad about it. There was a lot of new information and many areas that I didn’t use in my professional org. I knew that I would take what I’d just learned back to Chattanooga and work until I understood everything.

I stumbled into my second attempt during Dreamforce 2016. I was walking from one session to another and passed through the Salesforce University room where exams were about to start. I registered and got in the exam line. I felt so good during the exam. Just before I submitted it, I thought I had a really good chance of passing. I failed, but I didn’t feel bad because I knew I’d improved from the first time.

One year later, on the first day of the second Destination Success (2017), I failed the Advanced Administrator exam for the THIRD time. I don’t think I can articulate the emotions that seemed to swallow me up. I was prepared. I knew the material. The entire 90 minutes was torture. The words seemed to move on the page. I questioned the answers that I knew were right often changing them.

I am a crier. It is a game to my husband and son to see at what point in a sitcom, or drama, that I cry. I wear my heart on my sleeve and can’t always hide my emotions. I tell you this because when I failed, I didn’t cry. I didn’t have words. I was overwhelmed with the realization that I was the roadblock. I sat in the hotel room wearing the weight of failure. The idea of getting my head in the game to start class in a few hours seemed impossible.

My husband encouraged me saying, “It isn’t a fail, it is just a not pass yet!” My sweet Luke texted to see if I’d passed and then responded to my sad emoji face with, “You will get it!” I decided to fake it til I make it, so onto day one of DST17 I marched. At dinner that night, a coworker who was also attending DST17 told me about a book he was reading on grit. As I listened to him explain the theory behind the book, I felt empowered. My failed attempts didn’t mean I was dumb, or unqualified. My success may not come easy, but each time I failed, I grew stronger. I learned more. I kept moving forward. The bigger the struggle, the bigger the win.

I was on the Platform App Builder track. On Thursday evening, after the last day of class, I passed the Platform App Builder exam on my FIRST try. Before I clicked to submit the exam, I took a deep breath and sat in the moment. I knew that, pass or fail, I wouldn’t feel like I did on Monday. I knew that I had put everything I had into the exam. When I saw “PASS” on the screen it was as if it wasn’t for me. I couldn’t process the idea that I’d passed the exam. ON MY FIRST TRY?!? What? I felt like the newest SF MVP. Honestly, I was as excited about passing the exam as I was getting the certification.

I’d decided that I wasn’t going to end on a bad note and therefore wouldn’t take the Advanced Admin exam on Friday morning. I told myself that I would do it back home within 4 weeks. My husband wanted me to try again. He said that he knew I would pass, but I wasn’t on board until he pointed out that the more I read the exam, the more familiar I would be with the way the questions were asked.

I walked into the exam room with zero expectation. I wasn’t there to pass, I was there to exercise my brain with tricky questions. I was calm. Not once did I feel stressed about a question, or an answer. I methodically moved through the questions answering them with ease. You see, on Monday, I went down to the last minute wrestling with every possibility, but this time I finished with 40 minutes left. On the last day of the second Destination Success, I passed the Advanced Administrator exam.

Isn’t she lovely? Isn’t she wonderful? It has been one week since I passed and I still feel like Wonder Woman. I feel…well, triple certified 🙂 Formulas and validation rules are still tricky for me. Fortunately, with #AskForce and my awesome consultants at Better Partners (what’s up SF Wizard!), I continue to fit the pieces together and always deliver. I am not scared to not understand. I will not be ashamed and I will not accept just knowing enough to get by. I will continue melting my brain until I am a formula-writing, validation-making monster.

We seem to be built to hide our faults. To show only our best and look like we have it together. Well, no more, people. I say we share our challenges and embrace our grit. It would be easy for me to never mention this blog. It would feel safe. The idea of putting this out there for the world to read makes me feel vulnerable, but here I go with my good, my bad, and my quirky.

I will not listen to the voice that says, “If it isn’t easy-you aren’t good enough,” choosing instead to listen to the voice that says, “You can do anything you decide to do!”

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